- India: Shock & anger after eight-year-old beats six-year-old in classroom
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“There has been shock and anger in India over video footage from the CCTV of a school that shows an eight-year-old boy brutally beating a six-year-old girl. The girl, who was seriously injured, is recovering in hospital and is now out of danger but remains traumatised by the assault in Haryana state, her family has said. Police say they have registered a case and the eight-year-old has been sent to a home for juvenile offenders where he is undergoing psychiatric evaluation. The school principal and two other teachers have been suspended for suspected negligence, police say. The incident that took place in a government school in Panchkula in the northern state of Haryana on 28 October came to light at the weekend after the CCTV footage went viral on social media.” (11/02/26)
- Judge Throws Out Charges Against Former FBI Officials
Source: New York Times
“A federal magistrate judge threw out charges against two former F.B.I. intelligence officials accused of lying to Congress on Monday, saying that prosecutors had failed in one of their most basic responsibilities: They had not shown there was any probable cause that crimes had been committed in the first place. In an emotional, hourlong address from the bench in Federal District Court in Washington, the magistrate judge, Zia M. Faruqui, said that the case against the former officials — Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides — was a rushed, political prosecution ordered by the White House intended to affect the upcoming midterm elections. Two weeks ago, the administration charged the former officials with falsely minimizing their work on investigations involving Hunter Biden, the son of the former president.” (11/02/26)
- UK: Labour to end cooperation with Greens in 11 councils over “Zionism is racism” acknowledgement
Source: The Guardian
“Labour is to stop cooperating with the Green party in 11 councils across England following an ultimatum for Greens in local government to disown a new policy stating that ‘Zionism is racism’. A statement from Labour said coalitions or other deals with Greens would stop in all local authorities where they had refused to condemn the policy motion passed at their party conference last month, which also called for a single Palestinian state in place of Israel.” (11/02/26)
- Hungary: Wizz Air flight from Luton in emergency landing after bomb threat
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“A Wizz Air flight travelling from London Luton Airport to Sofia has been escorted by a Hungarian fighter jet to Budapest after a mid-air bomb threat. The aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing at Budapest Liszt Ferenc International. Authorities there ‘carried out the necessary security checks on the aircraft and passengers’, a spokesperson for Wizz Air said. The airline later confirmed an inspection had been ‘completed and nothing was found’, adding that the plane would depart again shortly. Hungarian Defence Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendis confirmed his country provided the fighter jet to escort the flight. According to flight tracking website FlightAware, Wizz Air flight 4302 departed Luton at 08:33 GMT and was due to arrive in the Bulgarian capital at 13:25 local time (11:25 GMT).” (11/02/26)
- SpaceX Reportedly Eyes Boost Mobile Deal to Challenge Wireless Giants
Source: Yahoo! Finance
“Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SPCX, Financials), the rocket and satellite business, is apparently in discussions to purchase Boost Mobile from EchoStar or have access to its wireless network.The talks are part of SpaceX’s drive to build out a wider mobile service through Starlink Mobile. A partnership may offer SpaceX access to terrestrial infrastructure that complements its satellite constellation, creating a hybrid network that can compete more directly with AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile.Today, Boost Mobile has a network agreement with AT&T and T-Mobile, which might be a valuable stepping stone for SpaceX as it grows beyond satellite communication.” (11/02/26)
https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/spacex-reportedly-eyes-boost-mobile-140529359.html
- Uganda: Regime Says It Has Started Withdrawing Troops From Somalia
Source: US News & World Report
‘Uganda said on Monday it had begun withdrawing its troops from Somalia as part of a phased drawdown that will end an almost two-decade deployment helping Mogadishu fight the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgency. Uganda has about 4,500 troops deployed in Somalia under the African Union-mandated AU Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), according to state media, though it is unclear how many additional forces are deployed under a separate bilateral arrangement.” (11/02/26)
- More grocery stores in Europe report fridge and freezer temperature spikes as apparent cyberattacks continue
Source: CBS News
“Grocery store chains in at least three European countries reported unexpected temperature spikes Monday in refrigerators and freezers that ruined food — the second time in less than a month that similar incidents have raised concerns about cyberattacks on increasingly interlinked infrastructure. Netherlands-based food retailer Ahold Delhaize and Colruyt in Belgium both said an IT incident overnight had sent temperatures inside fridges and freezers in dozens of their stores in Belgium and Luxembourg soaring, while Swedish chains ICA and Coop reported similar spikes, with one outlet explicitly blaming a cyberattack, according to the Reuters news agency. The incidents come less than three weeks after several French supermarket chains said they were hit by a cyberattack that sent refrigerator temperatures surging as high as 122 degrees Fahrenheit in hundreds of outlets.” (11/02/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/europe-grocery-store-refrigerator-freezer-cyberattack-hack-food-wasted/
- Mamdani threatens to sue Trump regime over ICE gang’s “unlawful commandeering” of NYC-owned properties for raids
Source: New York Post
“Mayor Zohran Mamdani threatened Monday to haul the Trump administration to court if ICE doesn’t stop its ‘unlawful commandeering’ of city-owned property during immigration operations. Hizzoner, in a letter to US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, warned that if the feds continued to park immigration vehicles in city parking lots, the Big Apple will haul them to court. ‘ICE has not secured any authorization from the City to use these lots for immigration enforcement. To be clear: the City does not authorize ICE using its property in this manner,’ the missive reads.” (11/02/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/11/02/us-news/mamdani-threatens-to-sue-trump-admin-over-ice/
- Bangladesh garment factories disrupted as protests continue for third day
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Hundreds of garment factories in Bangladesh are facing disruptions as worker protests over low pay and the rising cost of living rock the country’s industrial hubs. There was a heavy police presence in the Mirpur industrial area of Dhaka on Monday and reports of protests taking place for the third day in the Savar, Ashulia and Gazipur areas, Al Jazeera’a Tanvir Chowdhury reported from the capital. About 500 factories were temporarily shuttered after the protests began on Saturday. Thousands of workers have taken to the streets, facing tear gas and sound grenades from police.” (11/02/26)
- Fake nuclear warnings issued after Ukrainian and Russian air alert apps hacked
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Ukraine and Russia have both said air alert apps were hacked on Sunday night after fake messages warning of attacks, including nuclear, were sent to users. Ukraine’s widely used app sent red-level air raid warnings across the country, with additional warnings of radiation, chemical attacks, and street fighting sent to some residents in areas including Kyiv. A few hours later, Russian authorities said a similar app was hacked after fake alerts, some of which contained foul language, were triggered. It was unclear who was behind the cyberattacks or whether the two incidents were connected.” (11/02/26)
- Judge says xAI must face NAACP lawsuit on data center pollution
Source: Engadget
“A federal judge’s latest ruling has denied xAI’s request to dismiss a lawsuit that alleges its data center campus in Memphis, Tennessee is running turbines without proper permits and violating the Clean Air Act. The decision, from US District Judge Debra M. Brown, allows the lawsuit, which was filed by the NAACP, to move forward. The organization filed its legal action against xAI in April, accusing the company that’s now known as SpaceXSI of using unpermitted methane gas turbines to power data centers in the Memphis area.” (11/01/26)
https://www.engadget.com/2303462/judge-says-xai-must-face-naacp-lawsuit-on-data-center-pollution/
- MA: Lindsay Clancy returns to court in bid to dismiss charges
Source: SFGate
“Lindsay Clancy returned to court Monday in a bid to dismiss the charges that she murdered her three young children. The hearing Monday was the second time the Massachusetts mother has been in court since her trial ended with a deadlocked jury in September after jurors were unable to agree on a verdict. Its focus was a motion from the defense to dismiss the charges on double jeopardy grounds. The proceedings grew heated as defense attorney Kevin Reddington urged the judge to investigate the lone holdout juror, questioning his cell phone use during jury deliberations and whether he had been truthful during jury selection. Judge William Sullivan repeatedly intervened as Reddington publicly identified the juror and raised allegations involving potentially confidential information.” (11/02/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/lindsay-clancy-returns-to-court-in-a-bid-to-22506054.php
- Somali pirates seize Iranian fishing vessel, raising fears of attacks on cargo ships
Source: ABC News
“Somali pirates have seized an Iranian fishing vessel carrying 23 people, the Maritime Security Center Indian Ocean said, warning that the ship was approaching a commercial shipping lane and could become a floating base for further attacks. The Azini was hijacked Thursday between the coastal towns of Bandar Bayla and Hafun in northeastern Somalia, a maritime security officer with the Puntland Maritime Police Force said Sunday. The officer told The Associated Press that 12 pirates seized the vessel, which was carrying 21 Iranian crew members and two Somali security guards.” (11/01/26)
- Annual Fundraiser, Act II
THANK YOU to subscribing contributor JS, whose $10 monthly payment over the weekend brings our annual fundraiser total to (as of 5am Monday) $1,093.50!
We’re about 1/3 of the way through the fundraising period, and about 40% of the way to our goal. Ever so slightly “ahead of the curve,” but we’ve also been coasting a bit — and the more quickly we get where we’re going, the more quickly I can stop running my yap about money.
PLEASE SUPPORT THE FREEDOM MOVEMENT’S DAILY NEWSPAPER!
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Have a great day!
Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily - Iran: Regime offers 48-hour Hormuz reopening plan as Trump signals progress in talks
Source: Investing.com
“Iran has proposed reopening the Strait of Hormuz within two days if Washington meets its conditions, offering a breakthrough in talks to end the war as both sides warn that renewed fighting could spread regionally. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Qatari mediators had helped shorten Tehran’s seven-day reopening proposal. Under the revised sequence, the U.S. would take steps on the first day, and shipping would resume on the second. Meanwhile, Iranian negotiators reportedly held a third consecutive day of talks with Qatari mediators on Sunday to advance a deal to end the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, according to a Reuters News report.” (11/01/26)
- Judge tosses frivolous DOJ lawsuit over US Senate race
Source: The Hill
“A federal judge on Sunday dismissed the Trump administration’s lawsuit in Alaska that sought to block certification if the second Dan Sullivan running for Senate causes voter confusion and leads Democrats to flip the seat. U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason ruled the administration hadn’t shown how she could rectify their concerns, as ballots are already prepared and Election Day is on Tuesday. … The administration can now try to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.” (11/01/26)
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/6186982-judge-dismisses-trump-alaska-lawsuit
- UK: Palestine Action Ban Faces Supreme Court Challenge as Police Abduct More Than 300 Outside US Embassy
Source: International Business Times [UK]
“The Palestine Action ban faces a Supreme Court challenge this week after Saturday’s protest outside the US embassy in London. The Metropolitan Police confirmed on Sunday that officers had arrested 325 people. The group was proscribed under the Terrorism Act on 5 July 2025. Its co-founder subsequently secured permission to appeal against the ban, after conflicting judgements in the lower courts left the legality of the measure contested. Of those detained, 320 were arrested on suspicion of ‘expressing support for a proscribed organisation under the Terrorism Act’, the Met stated.” (11/02/26)
https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/palestine-action-ban-supreme-court-challenge-london-arrests-1829515
- Russia: New suspected radar in Kaliningrad could spy deep into Europe
Source: Deutsche Welle [German state media]
“The Kremlin is getting closer to opening its ‘new eye’ on Europe. Construction of a towering radar complex is almost complete in Russia’s highly militarized exclave of Kaliningrad, according to reports. From above, the three radiating arms of the sprawling facility, each more than 500 meters (1,640 feet) long, look like some sort of alien lifeform has left its mark on an otherwise undisturbed stretch of forested nature reserve. You could actually compare it to a landing platform or launch pad for Moscow’s massive intelligence-gathering network. While Russia has not confirmed it is building the structure, security expert Vaidotas Malinionis said the radar will be so big, it will be able to see beyond the earth’s curvature.” (11/01/26)
https://www.dw.com/en/russias-giant-new-radar-in-kaliningrad-raises-alarm-in-nato/a-79797815
- Bulgaria: Initial results suggest Yotova wins runoff to become first elected female president
Source: Associated Press
“Acting President Iliana Yotova is the apparent winner of Bulgaria’s presidential runoff, initial results of the vote count on Sunday showed, as former interim Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov conceded defeat. According to the count by several polling agencies, Yotova received 58% of the vote. If confirmed by official results, she would become Bulgaria’s first elected female head of state. Gyurov, backed by reformist pro-Western opposition parties, is said to be trailing at around 38%. … The vote was the first major test for Prime Minister Rumen Radev ’s Moscow-friendly Progressive Bulgaria party, which endorsed Yotova. In April’s parliamentary vote, the party won 131 of the 240 seats in Parliament, securing an outright majority.” (11/01/26)
- Judge throws out frivolous Trump suit against Wall Street Journal over Epstein letter
Source: CBC News [Canadian state media]
“Saying the president was ‘grasping at straws,’ a U.S. federal judge on Saturday threw out Donald Trump’s $10-billion lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch over a story reporting on his ties to wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein. U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami dismissed the suit with prejudice, ruling that the president did not prove the defendants made defamatory statements with actual malice as required by law. … When a case is thrown out ‘with prejudice,’ it cannot be refiled again and the dismissal is permanent and incontrovertible.” (10/31/26)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-jeffrey-epstein-lawsuit-dismissed-9.7404357
- Anthropic’s moat is Claude
Source: Noahpinion
by Noah Smith“Anthropic recently filed for IPO. At an estimated $1.5 to $2 trillion, it will be one of the biggest IPOs of all time, rivaling SpaceX, and possibly the biggest. For reference, Facebook’s valuation when it had its blockbuster IPO in 2012 was $104 billion, and Google’s valuation in 2004 was $23 billion. Anthropic will instantly become one of the world’s most valuable companies — Google itself is now worth $3.4 trillion, and Nvidia and Apple are both worth around $5 trillion. This naturally has a lot of people asking: What’s the upside to buying Anthropic?” (11/02/26)
- The Aluminum Industry’s New Tariff Study Argues Against Itself
Source: Cato Institute
by Clark Packard & Alfredo Carrillo Obregon“Recently, the American Primary Aluminum Association issued a report claiming as proof that the 50 percent Section 232 ‘national security’ tariffs should stay in place. Some of the report withstands scrutiny. High-purity aluminum matters for military hardware, and the report notes that no smelter in the United States or any NATO country can make it (p. 2). Aluminum also makes up a small share of costs for most finished goods, so the per-unit price effects are relatively modest. The defensible version of this argument is a very narrow, national security case. Yet the report does not make the case. Three problems stand out.” (11/02/26)
https://www.cato.org/blog/aluminum-industrys-new-tariff-study-argues-against-itself
- Alaska’s Decoy Scandal Brings Back the Usual Suspects for Shady Election Tactics
Source: Jonathan Turley
by Jonathan Turley“Marc Elias is back. The notorious Democratic lawyer who played a critical role in the 2016 Russia hoax is again in the news. His law firm has been identified by the New York Times as part of the expanding scandal involving Democratic effort to confuse voters in Alaska with a decoy candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan. For those familiar with Elias’s checkered history, this is a case of rounding up the usual suspects. The scandal involving Democratic candidate Mary Peltola has quickly snowballed this week. A New York Times blockbuster investigative report quotes former staff who claim she knew of a cynical effort by her own campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to confuse voters by recruiting and fielding a decoy ‘Dan Sullivan’ candidate in the race against incumbent Sen. Daniel S. Sullivan (R-AK). State and federal investigations are now unfolding, with dozens of federal subpoenas raining down on Alaska.” (11/02/26)
- The West’s Free Speech Consensus Is Fracturing
Source: The Daily Economy
by Anne Struffman“European crackdowns on citizen speech is provoking Washington to respond. Will free expression become a transatlantic fault line?” (11/02/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/the-wests-free-speech-consensus-is-fracturing/
- State Governments Burden Residents With Growing Debt Just Like the Feds
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille“California’s state government, which has run up $11,511 in debt per resident, is asking voters to approve more billions of dollars in bonds, to be paid back by taxpayers at a later date. The cost of carrying that extra debt will be added to the roughly $6 billion the state pays each year to service bonds issued in the past. But the Golden State isn’t the most debt-burdened state in the country. Connecticut and New Jersey are the most heavily burdened per capita, while Utah carries the least debt per person. The reasons for running up those obligations vary, but the heavier the load, the more taxpayers will have to carry in the years to come.” (11/02/26)
- The Most Under-Discussed Political Reality Of Our Time
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone“The most significant political reality of our time is also the most under-discussed political reality, and it can be summed up as follows: There are a whole lot more of us than there are of them, and we can force revolutionary change whenever we want. That’s it. There are a whole lot more ordinary people suffering under the status quo system of capitalism, imperialism, militarism and authoritarianism than there are people benefiting from it, and we can use the power of our numbers to overthrow that system whenever we decide to. It’s self-evident, and so simple that you can sum it up in a single sentence. But because our society is so deeply indoctrinated and mind-controlled, it simply doesn’t show up in the normal every day conversations people have about politics and the problems we face as a society today.” (11/02/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/11/02/the-most-under-discussed-political-reality-of-our-time/
- We can’t get money out of politics, but we can give legislators time to govern
Source: hypertext
by Matt Grossman“2026 will be the most expensive midterm election ever, with nearly $11 billion spent just on political advertising. Americans don’t like the scale of the spending and fear that big-money contributors will buy elections or legislation. Notwithstanding these concerns, campaign finance reformers have been unable to stem the flow of lucre into our politics, especially with courts repeatedly siding with the campaign spenders. But perhaps we are focused on the wrong harms from money in politics and, as a result, losing sight of the reforms that can really make a difference. ” (11/02/26)
https://hypertext.niskanencenter.org/p/we-cant-get-money-out-of-politics
- After insulting Mao Zedong, some offer groveling apologies to protect the bottom line. Others suffer in prison.
Source: Expression
by Sarah McLaughlin“On a cursory glance, the latest controversy over French soccer star Kylian Mbappé’s remark about Mao Zedong, and the string of obsequious apologies that followed it, might seem like just that: an ideological controversy, a fight over claims of offensive speech, or an absurd blip in the endless string of culture wars. But treating this as another eye-roll-inducing dustup would be a mistake. That’s because the fallout from Mbappé’s mild comment offers an insightful window into one of the most effective and widespread censorship campaigns today: the pervasive influence over how anyone, anywhere talks about China’s sensitive political issues. Authoritarians control how they are spoken about in life. And, apparently, even in death.” (11/02/26)
https://expression.fire.org/p/after-insulting-mao-zedong-some-offer
- Jonathan Turley Is Wrong on Jury Nullification
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger“I have the utmost respect for law professor Jonathan Turley. My admiration for him is reflected by the fact that he has been a speaker at at least two Future of Freedom Foundation conferences. However, I completely disagree with his critique of the concept of jury nullification, which he presented in an article this week entitled, ‘You Have This Superpower,’ which appeared on Turley’s website Res Ipsa Loquitur. Turley maintains that jury nullification constitutes an ‘assault on the integrity of our courts … a direct assault on the very foundation of the American court system.’ Nothing could be further from the truth. In actuality, as the British people and our American ancestors understood so well, jury nullification, which is an inherent part of the jury system, is a protection against the tyranny of one’s own government.” (11/02/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/11/02/jonathan-turley-is-wrong-on-jury-nullification/
- Republicans Have Earned a Rout
Source: The Bulwark
by Cathy Young“My own hopes for what Democrats will (and will not) do after Tuesday undoubtedly differ greatly from those of most progressives—who, it should be noted, have not ‘taken over’ the party nearly as much as alarming narratives on the right suggest. But on the election itself, I join both progressives and liberals in wishing for a decisive result. I’m glad to note that some very strong critics of the left share that wish as well—from Andrew Sullivan (‘vote for anyone other than a Republican. … We need to send a deafening message’) to Peggy Noonan (‘Let it be a clear and obvious rebuke—a rejection, a rebellion, a rout’).” (11/02/26)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/republicans-have-earned-a-rout-2026-midterms-blue-wave
- Did Davy Crockett & Jim Bowie Die at the Alamo to Put James Talarico in the Senate?
Source: Town Hall
by Mark Lewis“‘Back in 1836, Houston said to Travis, / ‘Get some volunteers and go, / fortify the Alamo.’ / Well, the men came from Texas, / and from old Tennessee, / And they joined up with Travis, / Just to fight for the right to be free’ … That’s what TEXANS used to believe. And many of us, hopefully most of us, still do. But I’ll bet my last bottom dollar that James Talarico and his Texas Democrats don’t believe it. The question that forms the title of this article is absolutely ridiculous, of course — ridiculous to think that great men like Crockett, Bowie, William Travis, Almaron Dickenson, and approximately 180 other men, who fought and died for freedom against a corrupt military dictatorship from a country that’s now trying to overrun Texas again, it is impossible to think that such men would have given their lives for a … traitor, like James Talarico.” (11/02/26)
- Governing Games
Source: Law & Liberty
by Neal McCluskey“How do we know how much a nation values athleticism? Spectacle? Hate for the college down the road and its insufferable student body? For the free-marketeer, the answer might be ‘profit.’ Whatever universities can charge for tickets, broadcast rights, merchandise, stadium beer, and more, balanced by what athletes are willing to play for and fans to pay, yields what college sports is worth. But college athletics might involve goods that transcend profit and loss: thrill of victory and agony of defeat, ‘nonrevenue’ sports we often overlook but love during the Olympics, amateurism, and more. We are also far from a free market in college sports because government is deeply involved, including through state universities and antitrust law.” (11/02/26)
- VAERS and VSAFE: The “Worst Case Scenario” Twice
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Leland Lehrman“The United States began vaccinating against Covid-19 on 14 December 2020. Two CDC programs were designed and paid to catch any harm that clinical trials had missed. VAERS takes reports from doctors, patients and manufacturers. V-safe sends vaccinated people text messages asking how they feel. Here we follow the paper trail of those two systems from the Christmas 2020 rollout into 2022. The bottom line: The government’s ‘worst case’ for amount of Covid vaccine injury reports assumed 1,000 reports a day. For fourteen months it was double that. For some of those months, it was triple.” (11/02/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/vaers-and-vsafe-the-worst-case-scenario-twice/
- Trump Is Dealing With a Different North Korea
Source: Antiwar.com
by Kyle Anzalone“With all of President Donald Trump’s wars – Iran, Yemen, Ukraine, Nigeria, Somalia, Venezuela, and cartels – it’s easy to lose track of what is happening on the Korean Peninsula. However, since Trump returned to the White House, a series of developments on the Korean Peninsula have increased the risk that a relatively minor border incident could escalate into a much larger conflict. The first, and potentially most important, was a policy shift by Pyongyang that began before Trump returned to the White House. North Korea abandoned its longstanding goal of reunification with South Korea, moving toward treating the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) as an international border.” (11/02/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/kyle_anzalone/2026/11/01/trump-is-dealing-with-a-different-north-korea/
- Entrepreneurship in Five Words
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by George Ford Smith“The future’s inherent uncertainty is an absolute we face every moment of our lives, but how people deal with it varies as widely as the weather. No one can guarantee tomorrow but we all have to decide what to do today. It is from this condition that entrepreneurship arises.” (11/02/26)
- Are You Tired of Winning Yet?
Source: Liberal Currents
by Kiran Pfitzner“The Trump administration has chosen to forget that airpower provides no way to force a favorable peace.” (11/02/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/are-you-tired-of-winning-yet/
- The People’s Tool: 2026 Ballot Measures Are Demands for Real Change
Source: Common Dreams
by Chris Melody Fields Figueredo“Heading into Tuesday’s midterm elections, the ballot measure landscape reveals a struggle over whether government will respond to people’s needs—and whether communities will retain the power to act through direct democracy when it does not. Economic anxiety, contested rights, and efforts to restrict direct democracy are converging around questions that reach beyond any individual proposal: Who benefits from policy change? Whose priorities will guide government? And what happens when elected officials advance an agenda their constituents reject? Recent elections suggest that voters are responding to more than a disconnect between their priorities and those of elected officials: they reveal a willingness to take power into their own hands when government fails to deliver.” (11/02/26)
- Government to Blame for Higher Prices
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jonathan Small“Voter concerns about affordability have been a major theme in political races, and understandably so. However, what is often unsaid is that many government policies are to blame for continued high prices. A panel of experts recently made that painfully clear to Oklahoma state lawmakers.” (11/02/26)
https://fee.org/articles/government-to-blame-for-higher-prices/
- The Media Whip Up Another Round of “Fascism” Fears for the Midterms
Source: The American Conservative
by Peter Van Buren“People have become hysterical, and this hysteria clouds their judgment even as it fills their wallets. Politics today can sound like a thriller novel in which institutions collapse spectacularly on page one to set the story in motion. Every headline not supporting your own beliefs becomes evidence ‘democracy is dying.’ It is a helluva lead-in to the midterms. So are they right? Is it 1930s Germany out there? No.” (11/02/26)
- Madison’s Toleration
Source: Law & Liberty
by Tyler Syck“Madison was a clear and hard-boiled proponent of a diverse, plural society.” (11/02/26)
- Is Darline Graham the canary in coal mine for midterm war backlash?
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Jack Hunter“Solid red South Carolina hasn’t elected a Democratic senator this century. But in the race between Republican. Darline Graham and her Democratic challenger, it’s now a draw. The New York Times called the race a toss-up on Wednesday, with Graham, the sister of the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, and Democrat Annie Andrews both receiving 48% in their latest poll. Fox News made the same call on Thursday. Democratic Senate candidates in the state don’t tie Republicans. But against the backdrop of Donald Trump’s war and escalating energy and food prices, all bets appear to be off.” (11/02/26)
- Midterm Election Incoherences, Misadventures & Paradoxes
Source: American Greatness
by Victor Davis Hanson“In June 2022, the price of gasoline topped $5 a gallon and stayed around $4 a gallon through October, on the eve of the midterms. It is currently about $4.30. The inflation rate in 2022 hit a 40-year high of 9.1 percent, and would average 5.1 percent over Joe Biden’s four-year tenure. The 2026 inflation rate is estimated to be about 3.5 percent and, over the first two years of the second Trump administration, will likely average around 3 percent. GDP for the third quarter of 2026 is higher than it was in the same quarter of 2022. The poverty rate is now lower and the annual family income higher than in November 2022. Yet we are told that gas prices and inflation are at record levels and will doom the Republicans, even though similar economic data did not harm Democrats all that much in the 2022 midterms.” (11/02/26)
https://amgreatness.com/2026/11/02/midterm-election-incoherences-misadventures-and-paradoxes/
- Republicans Are As Socialist As Democrats
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Thomas Eddlem“While a unified Democratic government has tended to see the fastest growth in government spending since World War II, government grows faster overall under Republican presidents than Democratic ones. And the only real decreases in the size of government spending happened during those six years where there were Democratic presidents and Republican majorities in Congress, first with the post-war build-down under Harry Truman (1947-48), and next after modest cut-backs from the bloated spending of the financial and COVID crises under Barack Obama (2009-10) and Donald Trump (2020), respectively.” (11/02/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/republicans-are-as-socialist-as-democrats
- My Journey to the Center of America’s Political Spam Text Hell
Source: Wired
by Dhruv Mehrotra“I’ve gotten nearly 2,000 campaign fundraising texts that were meant for someone else. I tried to find out why—and uncovered a labyrinth of politicians, data brokers, and shady tactics.” (11/02/26)
- Trump Is Using a Trade Law Relic to Illegally Punish Canada
Source: The Dispatch
by Ilya Somin“Courts have already ruled against two avenues President Donald Trump used to impose his tariff regime. That hasn’t stopped his efforts to attempt to deploy obscure or outdated trade law provisions to justify new import levies. His latest tool is the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, the notorious legislation that gravely exacerbated the Great Depression. … Even if Section 338 is still operative, Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods violate its requirements.” (11/02/26)
https://thedispatch.com/article/trump-canada-tariffs-section-338-lawsuit/
- My Life in a Skull of Ghosts: Confessions of a Traumagenic Tulpamancer
Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid“Agnes was who I was on the inside before the abuse, before being me became just too painful to consciously bare, and she has haunted me throughout my life, with terrifying flashbacks and a deep sense of guilt over some confusing notion that I had left something or someone behind. For a long time, I didn’t know what she was. I would get repeated waking visions of a little girl in pigtails and a black velvet party dress smashing all the stained-glass windows in my church. I took to calling her the little girl with the hammer, but it was only when I gave her the name Agnes and decided to listen to what she had to say that she began talking back to me …” (11/01/26)
https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2026/11/my-life-in-skull-of-ghosts-confessions.html
- Prison Gastronomy: Vegemite as a Cultural Right
Source: CounterPunch
by Binoy Kampmark“Should criminals be allowed the softening joys of favourite foods and longed for staples? The overcooked roast, the undercooked dumpling? And, for Australians, a foodstuff (hardly a food) so reprehensible it would draw disapproval from any respectable panel from UNESCO? Last month, Andre McKenchnie, a convicted murderer detained at Victoria’s Barwon Prison, attempted to test the judicial waters that not being allowed to consume the famous yeast spread of Vegemite was a denial of human rights under the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act, specifically the right to ‘enjoy his culture’ as an Australian.” (11/02/26)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/11/02/prison-gastronomy-vegemite-as-a-cultural-right/
- Will “Gina” Break Texas’s Corporate Welfare Consensus?
Source: The American Prospect
by Davide Mamone“Her full name is Regina Inez Hinojosa, but almost nobody in Texas calls her that. From the people she met on the streets during the final stretch of her campaign to her own staff, Hinojosa is simply ‘Gina’. Her hope, and that of the Democratic Party, is that her nickname will soon become ‘Governor Gina’, as volunteers and supporters chanted while welcoming her to Fort Bend County ahead of a canvassing event this weekend. A civil rights lawyer by training and a former Austin school board president, Hinojosa challenged incumbent Greg Abbott for Texas governor with a message that goes beyond the usual Democratic arguments about Republican extremism. Unlike many of her predecessors, she has explicitly focused her campaign on reining in corporate welfare, while supporting public education and expanding the safety net for middle-class families.” (11/02/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/11/02/texas-gina-hinojosa-greg-abbott-corporate-welfare-consensus/
- Quantum Vibe, 11/01/26
Source: Big Head Press
by Scott BieserCartoon. (11/01/26)
- Doomsday Plan: Indicator or Not, Prepping is Just Common Sense
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L. Knapp“I’d like to say ‘don’t panic,’ and that’s exactly what I will say — not because I’m convinced nothing bizarre is about to happen, but because ‘prepping’ is always good advice anyway. These news cycle indicators may or may not be predictive in the near term, but laying in some shelf-stable food and bottled water can’t hurt and will stand you in good stead for even the smaller ‘disasters’ that have always been part of life (blizzards, hurricanes, etc.). IS something big coming? I haven’t the faintest. I don’t move in circles of power where I’d pick up that kind of thing before you. That said, we live in a time of multiple escalating crises.” (11/01/26)
- Should lovers of liberty and christians vote?
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton“How involved should lovers of liberty (minarchists and especially anarchists) be involved in issues of government? Closely tied to that question, how involved should christians and libertarians be in issues that relate to human (‘civil’) government? Should they vote in elections, write government representatives, support candidates, and speak out about political issues relating to liberty, morality, responsibility, family, and freedom (not just but especially religious freedom)? For christians, what about the separation of church and state? For libertarians in general, what about separation of school and state?” (10/31/26)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2026/10/31/should-lovers-of-liberty-and-christians-vote/
- For Libertarians, Election Day Is the Cruelest Day of the Year
Source: Reason
by Nick Gillespie“There is rarely anyone worth voting for who might actually win in most races. That’s got to change.” (10/31/26)
https://reason.com/2026/10/31/for-libertarians-election-day-is-the-cruelest-day-of-the-year/
- A Wile E. Coyote Caper in Alaska
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson“Counterfactuals are of limited use, but it does not seem likely that the Democratic nominee in Alaska, Mary Peltola, needed to engage in ballot shenanigans to win. She has been consistently ahead in the polls, including in head-to-head polls in which the third candidate is a non-factor, and some polls, including those from the New York Times/Siena and other credible sources, have had her at or above 50 percent. All of the media attention to the ballot-stacking story has probably done very little other than to dirty up her name, blunt the Democrats’ natural advantage vis-à-vis Donald Trump’s Republicans on the issue of corruption and democratic probity, and—not least—remind Alaskans what the name of their not particularly impressive Class II incumbent senator is.” (10/30/26)
https://thedispatch.com/article/alaska-caper-democrats-midterms-dan-sullivan/
- Why Weren’t We Warned?
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Alan Cassels“Apparently, the fact that young people aren’t having much sex today is being captured in surveys from around the world. This is proving to be worrisome not simply as a cultural artifact, but because the lack of sex is resulting in plunging birth rates, causing fertility in nearly every OECD country to drop to historic lows. The lack of sex is not only shrinking populations, but also causing huge demographic changes as countries turn older. What exactly is going on?” (11/01/26)
- Confident People Don’t Do What Dems Doing at End of the Campaign
Source: Town Hall
by Derek Hunter“Confidence is an important factor in any election – candidates need to project it, and supporters need to feel it for morale purposes to help them get across the finish line. Democrats had all the confidence in the world a month ago…but it’s not a month ago anymore. In the closing two weeks of the 2026 midterms, Democrats have begun to act like people concerned that they’re going to lose. In Alaska, Democrats were always worried about losing – it’s Alaska, after all. That’s why they cooked up this stupid ‘Find another Dan Sullivan’ scam to confuse just enough voters to get into the second round of ranked-choice voting.” (11/01/26)
- EconTalk, 11/02/26
Source: EconTalk
“Revisiting the China Shock (with Joseph Francis).” (11/02/26)
https://www.econtalk.org/revisiting-the-china-shock-with-joseph-francis/
- SolutionsWatch, 11/02/26
Source: The Corbett Report
“Stopping the War Machine.” (11/02/26)
https://corbettreport.com/stopping-the-war-machine-solutionswatch/
- What Then Must We Do?, 11/02/26
Source: Bretigne Shaffer
“Has MAHA Disarmed the Medical-Freedom Movement? A conversation with Jeremy Hammond.” (11/02/26)
- Pink Flame of Liberty, 11/01/26
Source: Pink Flame of Liberty
“The Midterm DOJ Hunger Games Part 6 – US v. Alaska.” (11/01/26)
- Politico Playbook Audio Briefing, 11/02/26
Source: Politico
“Haley Stevens caps a bizarre midterm cycle.” (11/02/26)
- Dave Benner on The Kyle Anzalone Show
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Dave Benner from Liberty Vault joins us for a blunt end-of-week rundown on the war in Iran, the midterm backlash building around it, and why the administration’s promise that it won’t become a forever war is landing with a thud for a lot of voters.” (11/01/26)
- The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 11/02/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Fury Erupts as GOP Leaks About His Rallies Take Humiliating Turn.” (11/02/260
https://newrepublic.com/article/217423/trump-fury-erupts-gop-leaks-rallies-take-humiliating-turn
- Andrew Day on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Scott interviews Andrew Day from The American Conservative about what’s happening with the Iran war.” (11/01/26)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/10-30-26-andrew-day-on-the-iran-war-eight-months-in/
- The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, 11/02/26
Source: The Dispatch
“Build More Houses, Have More Kids | Interview: Tim Carney.” (11/02/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/remnant/build-more-houses-have-more-kids-interview-tim-carney/
- Politics Politics Politics, 11/01/26
Source: Politics Politics Politics
“Michigan SHOCKER: Haley Stevens Endorses Mike Rogers.” (11/01/260
https://www.politicspoliticspolitics.com/p/michigan-shocker-haley-stevens-endorses
- The Permanent Questions, 11/01/26
Source: The Atlantic
“Is Radicalism the Answer?” (11/01/26)
https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/2026/11/is-radicalism-the-answer/689201/
- Free Talk Live, 11/01/26
Source: Free Talk Live
“Sarah from New Mexico says there’s going to be 74 polling locations just in her county! :: Dave in CO tells us about a NH Journal journalist kicked out of a NH Democrat meeting, says he should have gotten video :: Psychedelic nose spray beats depression :: Drama on what actress Sophia Bush said on Call Her Daddy :: Sydney Sweeney hot or ugly? :: Did Trump shoot down a private plane? :: NY to regulate how AI chatbots interact with children :: 2026-11-01 :: Hosts: Bonnie, Riley O’Bill, Rich E Rich.” (11/01/26)
- Neon Liberalism, episode 97
Source: Liberal Currents
“How the Wheels Came Off: China’s Economic Malaise.” (11/02/26)
- Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 11/01/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“Iran Says Trump Won’t ‘Dictate’ Length of Renewed War, Syria Considers Joining Mecca Pact, and More.” (11/01/26)
- Unattended Baggage, episode 361
Source: Unattended Baggage
“It’s election day … again … maybe.” (10/31/26)
https://unattendedbaggage.substack.com/p/episode-361-its-election-dayagainmaybe
- Pink Flame of Liberty, 10/31/26
Source: Pink Flame of Liberty
“The Midterm DOJ Hunger Games Part 4 – US v. Alaska.” (10/31/26)
- Romina Boccia on Freedom Works with Paul Molloy
Source: Freedom Works
“The Unseen Factor Driving Social Security Problems.” (10/31/26)
https://internetradiopros.com/freedomworks/?name=2026-10-31_zfw10262026.mp3
- The Good Fight, 10/31/26
Source: Yascha Mounk
“Dan Williams on Why AI (Probably) Won’t Kill Us.” (10/31/26)
- The Mona Charen Show, 10/31/26
Source: The Bulwark
“Elon Musk’s DOGE Was a Colossal Con Job (w/ Max Stier).” (10/31/26)
- The Fifth Column, episode 581
Source: The Fifth Column
“A Socialist Walks Into The Fifth Column (w/ Bhaskar Sunkara).” (10/30/260
https://www.wethefifth.com/p/a-socialist-walks-into-the-fifth